ROTTERDAM Ethics attorney selection raises eyebrows BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.
Rotterdam’s Ethics Board was hoping to hire an attorney specializing in municipal law, but instead got a lawyer specializing in real estate and who works for a law firm that has ties with the Town Board leadership. Town Board members approved a resolution hiring Linda Leary of Slingerlands at an annual salary not to exceed $4,000, despite protests from the Ethics Board’s chairman. Town officials also ignored the Ethics Board’s three recommended choices for the position, even though each of the candidates was selected through procedures outlined in Rotterdam code. Leary was the attorney originally selected by the Town Board in January, sparking a complaint to the Ethics Board. She also is a partner at Donald Zee Law Office in Albany, the firm that represented the newly elected Town Board members as they prepared to take office. Andrew Brick, the former town attorney under the administration of Democrat John Paolino, is also a member of Zee’s law firm. In the past six months, he has represented the town in Golub’s proposal to relocate Dunnsville Road, longtime Clerk Eunice Esposito in the complaint against her notary powers and Sync Realty in its rezoning effort of the former Rotterdam Housing Area. “Nowhere on her resume does it even say she has experience in ethics law or municipal law,” Ethics Board Chairman Michael Pasquarella said of Leary during Wednesday’s Town Board meeting. “She’s a real estate attorney who also happens to work in the office of Andy Brick.” Leary’s appointment on New Year’s Day was contested by resident Frank Salamone via an ethics complaint filed in late January. He contended that the appointment was unlawful, citing a town code that outlines a process for hiring a new Ethics Board attorney if the former one is not retained. But the Ethics Board didn’t receive the complaint until two weeks after it arrived in Town Hall. When the complaint was forwarded to the board, it was accompanied by an opinion from Michael Godlewski, the Town Board’s privately contracted attorney. The Ethics Board later ruled the Town Board had violated its own procedures for appointing their attorney. The law stipulates that the position must be advertised and then the Ethics Board must conduct interviews before submitting three or more names to the Town Board for consideration. Pasquarella said the Ethics Board then advertised for applicants and received seven resumes from area attorneys. He said the bipartisan board ultimately chose their former attorney Peter Coffey as their top pick among three candidates, after taking into consideration his reputation within the county, his work experience with ethics and his ties with the community. Supervisor Frank Del Gallo responded to the Ethics Board’s top three choices via letter last week and disagreed with their finding about the hiring process. Del Gallo indicated the Town Board had reviewed Coffey in accordance with the local law and made a proper determination to hire Leary instead. “The four Town Board members who voted in support of Ms. Leary … gave appropriate consideration before casting our votes, including fair consideration to Mr. Coffey,” he wrote. Town Board members didn’t respond to Pasquarella’s comments during their meeting Wednesday and a call placed to Del Gallo’s office Thursday was not returned. Leary was appointed by a 4-1 vote, with Republican Gerard Parisi against the motion. Pasquarella fears Leary could face a conflict if she’s advising the Ethics Board on any complaints against a Town Board member. He said the appointment reflects poorly upon the Town Board members who ran on a unified platform of transparency and open government. “It certainly speaks volumes to me about the transparency and integrity of the board,” he said. “This why good people don’t get into politics.”
Despite the fact that Salamone said it (he's such a bozo) I would say "Clean out the barn." This is not smart on the part of the Dems. There are lots folks they could get. The Ethics board should have a hand in her their attorney is. Not sure what the attraction is here for the TB. Bad move.
I looks like this town board doesn't need an ethics board either.They appear to just blow throw all rules and regulations that are already in place to safeguard both the local government and it's residents. Apparently this board just changes, ratifies, overturns or just plan make up the rules as they go along.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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